Yesterday it may have seemed like I was picking on a church here in Toronto. I made a comment that I believe is justifiable criticism. Now I would like to say one very positive thing the pastor said, that I think more churches could learn from. His comment was that they were a church that had Arminians and Calvinists, among other groups that do not necessarily hold the same theological viewpoints.

It was a powerful statement, whether intended or not, as to what things are essential. Instead of fighting each other, dividing and splitting over obscure theological unknowables, we should be aiming for unity. Let’s be honest, we cannot sort out the paradoxes of theology. God is an infinite being who holds within himself everything we view as opposite. To borrow a phrase from a quantum physicist, if you think you understand God, you don’t. We are given powerful indicators as to his character, his goodness, and his love for us. But we will never know this side of heaven, and possibly the other side as well, how the paradoxes unfold together.

I attend a Christian Classics Reading Group, hosted by my good friend Matthew Hoskin and a few weeks back we were discussing the creeds. While discussing why we need them it seemed to me that they are powerful forces for unity. They are a test of orthodoxy if you will. Instead of asking if someone is a five point calvinist, or some other strange standard for determining their orthodoxy, should we not be asking instead if they believe the Apostles, Nicene, or Athanasian creed? If we accept Christ as the center of Christianity, theology should not be a force for division.